GAH I was/am having major Html issues with blogger, so I just reverted to a standard template for now.
...And lost all my pics and whatnot!!! Sonofacrotch.
Technology and I have a love-hate relationship. Right now it's much more seething hate on my end, but... eh.
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Does our carpet match our drapes?
HA! ...Sorry, that was gross.
We got new carpet in our upstairs today! Woot!
.... Well, we're halfway there, anyway... apparently the stairs is an "all-day job" that can't be done at the same time all the rest of the upstairs got done.
Here's some pics!!
Background: The house was built in 1900 and we've spent the last three years renovating it room by room. Uh... I say that like I have actually done any of the work, haha. Back in the day - pre-daily puking, that is - I would help paint, etc., but of late it's just been up to poor Drew. To be honest, I think he prefers that anyway, because he's such a perfectionist and would just rather do it himself. We had some nasty old carpet before, but Drew pulled it up -and we found some interesting stain/paint combinations!
By the way, if you've never been acquanted with old houses, bedrooms are generally tiny, and our house is no exception!
For your viewing pleasure:
Back bedroom/ future nursery mid-renovation:
Before carpet:
Post-carpet (view from the other end - and a better representation of the wall color):
Our super loooooooooong hallway pre-carpet:
The hallway post-carpet:
Middle bedroom/den pre-carpet (unfortunately, we didn't get a good shot of the built-ins - this whole room used to be covered in orangey-stained knotty pine boards):
Middle bedroom/den post-carpet: 
Close-up of the built-ins (and a bit of Drew's butt on the left!! Ra ha haaaaaaaaa!):
Thanks for humoring me in my senseless woo-we-are-finally-allllllllmost-done-renovating-ramble.
Pregnancy update: I officially threw up in the sink for the first time while brushing my teeth this morning. I have hit a new level of disgusting. Granted, I have thrown up just about everywhere else: various faculty bathrooms two in-laws' bathrooms, both of our bathrooms, the bathroom in Lowe's... but never in a sink. Should I be proud? -cause I'm really not.
I have my ten-week appointment on Friday, and I must say, I am TERRIFIED. This was the appointment I had last fall in which they could not find a heartbeat on the doppler... then again a few days later... then... well, I don't even talk about the ultrasound. Not yet. Bleh.
...But we have new carpet!
We got new carpet in our upstairs today! Woot!
.... Well, we're halfway there, anyway... apparently the stairs is an "all-day job" that can't be done at the same time all the rest of the upstairs got done.
Here's some pics!!
Background: The house was built in 1900 and we've spent the last three years renovating it room by room. Uh... I say that like I have actually done any of the work, haha. Back in the day - pre-daily puking, that is - I would help paint, etc., but of late it's just been up to poor Drew. To be honest, I think he prefers that anyway, because he's such a perfectionist and would just rather do it himself. We had some nasty old carpet before, but Drew pulled it up -and we found some interesting stain/paint combinations!
By the way, if you've never been acquanted with old houses, bedrooms are generally tiny, and our house is no exception!
For your viewing pleasure:
Back bedroom/ future nursery mid-renovation:
Before carpet:
Post-carpet (view from the other end - and a better representation of the wall color):
Our super loooooooooong hallway pre-carpet:
The hallway post-carpet:
Middle bedroom/den pre-carpet (unfortunately, we didn't get a good shot of the built-ins - this whole room used to be covered in orangey-stained knotty pine boards):
Middle bedroom/den post-carpet: 
Close-up of the built-ins (and a bit of Drew's butt on the left!! Ra ha haaaaaaaaa!):
Thanks for humoring me in my senseless woo-we-are-finally-allllllllmost-done-renovating-ramble.
Pregnancy update: I officially threw up in the sink for the first time while brushing my teeth this morning. I have hit a new level of disgusting. Granted, I have thrown up just about everywhere else: various faculty bathrooms two in-laws' bathrooms, both of our bathrooms, the bathroom in Lowe's... but never in a sink. Should I be proud? -cause I'm really not.
I have my ten-week appointment on Friday, and I must say, I am TERRIFIED. This was the appointment I had last fall in which they could not find a heartbeat on the doppler... then again a few days later... then... well, I don't even talk about the ultrasound. Not yet. Bleh.
...But we have new carpet!
Monday, March 16, 2009
Blehhhhhgggghhhh
I had - have - every intention to keep up this blog as I go through this pregnant journey.
...If only I could will myself to do anything other than sink into the couch and become stuck there the moment I come home, stretched out/banishing Drew to the love seat. Poor guy.
I feel like such a waste of space. I can barely even stand to pick up after myself, as bending over brings the vom creeping up my throat. (Nice image, right?) Seriously... I never thought I would be such a whiner about this, and honestly, I am more thrilled than anyone that my hormones are obviously a million times higher than they were the last two times - but sheesh! I just want to have a little energy... or eat something without forcing it down for fear that it'll come right back up.
So why don't I do anything about it? Well....
*I have a major mental fear of B6 after I took it - for the first time - and it just so happened it was the same day I became afflicted with the worst stomach flu I've had in my adult life. Now I know it didn't trigger the 72 consecutive hours of throwing up which led to compazine suppositories and meclizine pills that made me feel crazy and three days off work.... [whineywhinewhine].... BUT, I just never, EVER want to repeat that again. Maybe I am depriving myself of my best cure. But I just can't shake the stigma.
*No more lemon drops: Drew (bless his heart) bought an enormous bag of lemon drops... but they are mostly fake lemon, and leave the WORST/gag-inducing taste in my mouth. 'Nuff said.
*Similarly, I am just REALLY sick of ginger ale/etc. - the taste is now terrible to me.
*Has anyone actually tried sea bands? They are mucho painful. I can't tell if they really work well or not because I have only been able to stand them for an hour or so at a time.
WOW I am such a complainer!!! Let me end this on a more positive note:
- I have gotten the all-clear from my midwives to fly to Charlotte in a few weeks! I am a bridesmaid in one of my best friends' weddings, and was worried I'd have to make the trip in a car - which will end up being something like an 11-hour drive. They were originally reluctant to let me fly based on my constant spotting - but I've gone a full week without it, so they said it should be fine. Woo hoo!
- Another awesome thing: The third marking period is over in just a week and a half (which in itself is a crazy thought!). Normally at this time I am up to my eyeballs in grading, but somehow I've managed to stay on top of everything and am completely caught up. It's an awesome feeling, especially since I've been feeling so crappy in the evenings and haven't really been up to doing a lot of work in the evenings.
...If only I could will myself to do anything other than sink into the couch and become stuck there the moment I come home, stretched out/banishing Drew to the love seat. Poor guy.
I feel like such a waste of space. I can barely even stand to pick up after myself, as bending over brings the vom creeping up my throat. (Nice image, right?) Seriously... I never thought I would be such a whiner about this, and honestly, I am more thrilled than anyone that my hormones are obviously a million times higher than they were the last two times - but sheesh! I just want to have a little energy... or eat something without forcing it down for fear that it'll come right back up.
So why don't I do anything about it? Well....
*I have a major mental fear of B6 after I took it - for the first time - and it just so happened it was the same day I became afflicted with the worst stomach flu I've had in my adult life. Now I know it didn't trigger the 72 consecutive hours of throwing up which led to compazine suppositories and meclizine pills that made me feel crazy and three days off work.... [whineywhinewhine].... BUT, I just never, EVER want to repeat that again. Maybe I am depriving myself of my best cure. But I just can't shake the stigma.
*No more lemon drops: Drew (bless his heart) bought an enormous bag of lemon drops... but they are mostly fake lemon, and leave the WORST/gag-inducing taste in my mouth. 'Nuff said.
*Similarly, I am just REALLY sick of ginger ale/etc. - the taste is now terrible to me.
*Has anyone actually tried sea bands? They are mucho painful. I can't tell if they really work well or not because I have only been able to stand them for an hour or so at a time.
WOW I am such a complainer!!! Let me end this on a more positive note:
- I have gotten the all-clear from my midwives to fly to Charlotte in a few weeks! I am a bridesmaid in one of my best friends' weddings, and was worried I'd have to make the trip in a car - which will end up being something like an 11-hour drive. They were originally reluctant to let me fly based on my constant spotting - but I've gone a full week without it, so they said it should be fine. Woo hoo!
- Another awesome thing: The third marking period is over in just a week and a half (which in itself is a crazy thought!). Normally at this time I am up to my eyeballs in grading, but somehow I've managed to stay on top of everything and am completely caught up. It's an awesome feeling, especially since I've been feeling so crappy in the evenings and haven't really been up to doing a lot of work in the evenings.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Gratuitous baby-making post/terror is evident.
So... Reason I have been MIA....
I am pregnant.
And, as per usual, I have been freaking out for the past two months about it. I am not sure why I thought it would take a long time to happen; apparently the GETTING pregnant part isn't the problem... it's the STAYING that way. Two miscarriages in the last year, actually. I have already had my share of scares this time around: at around 4 weeks, I started spotting, which led to a series of hcg levels drawn. They turned out reassuringly awesome. In fact, Dr. Evil - the ob who performed my d&c in October - actually said "Your baby's kicking butt." Pretty good for a guy who literally introduced himself to me/asked me if it was my first prenatal appointment TWO F.ING WEEKS after he performed my g.d. d&c and literally forgot who I was. Classy. I hate him, but the midwives are amazing in the practice. Plus, it's a tiny town, and unless I want to drive 1.5 hours one way to see my doc, I'll have to deal. Bleh.
On to more traumas...
I had a dating u/s on Feb 23 at my OB office, and after the initial "Hey, you're pregnant - let's poke around your body!" exam, they literally left me in the room waiting for the u/s for an hour. I had an impressive panic attack - shaking uncontrollably, rocking back and forth, muttering, sobbing, and ass sweat like you wouldn't believe. HA Srsly.... I destroyed the paper gown with my sweatyness. Thank God for my husband being there, or I would have literally run into the hallway with all my business showing and demanded they let me go home immediately. I just couldn't handle bad news. And then I thought I couldn't handle GOOD news, because it would never truly be "over" -the terror would be a daily visitor.
I was CONVINCED they would find nothing, or another baby with no heartbeat... and they only found a gestational sac. I FREAKED out. They scheduled an u/s appt for the following Friday (a mere four days away, and in no way enough time to see anything I thought). Those were probably the longest, most appetite-less, sobingest four days of my life.
Friday finally came, and again, I freaked in the waiting room at the hospital, and of COURSE this annoying bitchmo who went to college with me/now works with my husband was there getting a 3T u/s for her f.ing TWINS she's carrying... and we had to feign friendly until she got called back. We had the same u/s tech we had for my last pregnancy, and she actually remembered that right away - and brought it up - which only made it worse. I could tell she was doing the math in her head. I had to tell her, for the thousandth time in the past two weeks, that I have been pregnant off and on for a year but have no"live births" to show for it. Thanks Lady.
She was actually pretty nice, though, and looked right away for the baby - wasting no time pissing around taking pictures of ovaries or anything.
And there it was, heart pumping away. It was the most beautiful blob I've ever seen.
...So that's cool, right? Well, I sound completely evil and like a terrible mother already,but I've seen a heartbeat before. I've carried a child for weeks and assumed hewas fine, and that I was safely helping him grow, though he'd already been lost. How do I know this is really going to happen? How can I be sure my body isn't attacking my poor defenseless baby as we speak? Crazy-sounding? Sadly, those are the irrational thoughts constantly running through my brain. True, I feel SICKER than I ever have before. To an exponential degree. ...But is that enough reassurance?
March 27 can't come fast enough.
PS: Teaching high school students while attempting to disguise morning sickness is laughable at best.
*Sigh.*
I am pregnant.
And, as per usual, I have been freaking out for the past two months about it. I am not sure why I thought it would take a long time to happen; apparently the GETTING pregnant part isn't the problem... it's the STAYING that way. Two miscarriages in the last year, actually. I have already had my share of scares this time around: at around 4 weeks, I started spotting, which led to a series of hcg levels drawn. They turned out reassuringly awesome. In fact, Dr. Evil - the ob who performed my d&c in October - actually said "Your baby's kicking butt." Pretty good for a guy who literally introduced himself to me/asked me if it was my first prenatal appointment TWO F.ING WEEKS after he performed my g.d. d&c and literally forgot who I was. Classy. I hate him, but the midwives are amazing in the practice. Plus, it's a tiny town, and unless I want to drive 1.5 hours one way to see my doc, I'll have to deal. Bleh.
On to more traumas...
I had a dating u/s on Feb 23 at my OB office, and after the initial "Hey, you're pregnant - let's poke around your body!" exam, they literally left me in the room waiting for the u/s for an hour. I had an impressive panic attack - shaking uncontrollably, rocking back and forth, muttering, sobbing, and ass sweat like you wouldn't believe. HA Srsly.... I destroyed the paper gown with my sweatyness. Thank God for my husband being there, or I would have literally run into the hallway with all my business showing and demanded they let me go home immediately. I just couldn't handle bad news. And then I thought I couldn't handle GOOD news, because it would never truly be "over" -the terror would be a daily visitor.
I was CONVINCED they would find nothing, or another baby with no heartbeat... and they only found a gestational sac. I FREAKED out. They scheduled an u/s appt for the following Friday (a mere four days away, and in no way enough time to see anything I thought). Those were probably the longest, most appetite-less, sobingest four days of my life.
Friday finally came, and again, I freaked in the waiting room at the hospital, and of COURSE this annoying bitchmo who went to college with me/now works with my husband was there getting a 3T u/s for her f.ing TWINS she's carrying... and we had to feign friendly until she got called back. We had the same u/s tech we had for my last pregnancy, and she actually remembered that right away - and brought it up - which only made it worse. I could tell she was doing the math in her head. I had to tell her, for the thousandth time in the past two weeks, that I have been pregnant off and on for a year but have no"live births" to show for it. Thanks Lady.
She was actually pretty nice, though, and looked right away for the baby - wasting no time pissing around taking pictures of ovaries or anything.
And there it was, heart pumping away. It was the most beautiful blob I've ever seen.
...So that's cool, right? Well, I sound completely evil and like a terrible mother already,but I've seen a heartbeat before. I've carried a child for weeks and assumed hewas fine, and that I was safely helping him grow, though he'd already been lost. How do I know this is really going to happen? How can I be sure my body isn't attacking my poor defenseless baby as we speak? Crazy-sounding? Sadly, those are the irrational thoughts constantly running through my brain. True, I feel SICKER than I ever have before. To an exponential degree. ...But is that enough reassurance?
March 27 can't come fast enough.
PS: Teaching high school students while attempting to disguise morning sickness is laughable at best.
*Sigh.*
The shiz is back, y'all.
Oh brother; I'm a horrible blogger.
...But I am starving, so I shall actually write something later.
...Or will I?!!!!?!?!?!?!
[Mwa... ha... ha...?]
No, I really will.
...But I am starving, so I shall actually write something later.
...Or will I?!!!!?!?!?!?!
[Mwa... ha... ha...?]
No, I really will.
Friday, January 30, 2009
I just want to say
I love Lost. Ohsoverymuch.
Many people may disagree. Well, f. y'all. Ha!
...Seriously, though. I had my doubts for awhile, and it does chap my ass a bit that you can't take your eyes off the screen for even a split second or you will miss some things that mightbethelifealteringmisingpiecetotheevergrowingpuzzle.
I love Batmanuel's eyeliner.
I love Locke's tiger stripe scar.
I love Jack's crazy moutnainman beard.
So...uh... I've got to love something other than their insane makeup, right??
Ahh, yes. Two words: Ben Linus.
Many people may disagree. Well, f. y'all. Ha!
...Seriously, though. I had my doubts for awhile, and it does chap my ass a bit that you can't take your eyes off the screen for even a split second or you will miss some things that mightbethelifealteringmisingpiecetotheevergrowingpuzzle.
But oooooh baby I love it!
I love Batmanuel's eyeliner.
I love Locke's tiger stripe scar.
I love Jack's crazy moutnainman beard.
So...uh... I've got to love something other than their insane makeup, right??
Ahh, yes. Two words: Ben Linus.
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
SNOW DAY!!!
I love - and loathe - mid-week snow days. Ohhhh the sleeping in! Ohhhh... the make-up days and screw-ups to my lesson plans!...
I think we only have two snow days built into the year left - or is it only one? It needs to start getting warmer, y'all. Stat. Winter is overrated.
At least HoboDave loves the snow:
OperationGetKnockedUp:Take2 has commenced, and we are currently in the waiting stage. I have no idea what will happen in a week or so - I won't be surprised by pregnancy or the lack thereof at this point. And, oddly enough, I'm okay with that.
(I say that now, but wait until I am crying in the frigid faculty bathroom in between classes.)
*Sigh.*
I think we only have two snow days built into the year left - or is it only one? It needs to start getting warmer, y'all. Stat. Winter is overrated.
At least HoboDave loves the snow:
OperationGetKnockedUp:Take2 has commenced, and we are currently in the waiting stage. I have no idea what will happen in a week or so - I won't be surprised by pregnancy or the lack thereof at this point. And, oddly enough, I'm okay with that.
(I say that now, but wait until I am crying in the frigid faculty bathroom in between classes.)
*Sigh.*
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Anew
It was sunny today. Sunny and 39 degrees!!!! Coming from someone who's seen literally over 100 inches of snow fall on her front lawn this season, complete with temperatures so cold this past week that Drew's car wouldn't even START, this is a major heat wave!! I needed sunglasses!! I saw water running down the street! I could actually see some of the sidewalk/grass/rooftops! Dave didn't need his sweater and actually walked around the block without trying to run back home! I began gratuitously overusing exclamation points to display my enthusiasm! Amazing how my mood is instantly elevated with just a few minutes of vitamin D.
This is especially amusing to me, as my North Carolinnny-dwelling sibs are currently blanketed with snow. Raleigh has, predictably, been shut down for the past couple of days, and naturally, everyone has gone crazy. No rest for the vets, though - and I mean the animal kind, not the fighting kind - so SistervonYounger has been sliding her non-4-wheel-drive to work anyway. Suckaaa!
As of today, the new semester has officially started. I am looking forward to my new students in my two semester electives, and refreshing things with my year-long English classes. New - or revamped rules. New seating charts. New hall pass policy. New configuration of students (This is not really a good thing, as I keep getting all the upper-level dropouts in my low-level classes, yet no one will take MY failing upper-level students! ha. No, really. And a whole truckload of "reformed" students fresh off the Alternative Education track. Woo for public education!). A new start.
Drew has restarted the renovations on our back bedroom... AKA the future nursery. This is one of the few rooms we have left to finish in the house, and was pursued with vigor for a few months.... then suddenly became a project that was unceremoniously dumped the second we found out I had miscarried. Healing is apparent here.
Speaking of which, I was just ruminating a bit about how far I've come emotionally in the past month or two - sure, I've had the choice mini-breakdown here and there, usually at any major holiday or birthday, etc. - but overall, I can safely say I am healed. Not over it. Not by a long shot. The scar is still there. I think of it daily. [I would have been 23 weeks yesterday, as a matter of fact.] It is dark, and ugly, and jagged. Every once in a while, the scar sends phantom pains to my heart. But passed are the days where I would sob at the gas station...or in my classroom... or in the shower... or in the car on the way to work...
...you get the idea.
Yes. I am feeling hopeful and ready to begin anew.
[PS- The links to flickr pics - etc. - are obviously not to my own albums, or even to the area in which I live. Just appealing to those visual learners.]
This is especially amusing to me, as my North Carolinnny-dwelling sibs are currently blanketed with snow. Raleigh has, predictably, been shut down for the past couple of days, and naturally, everyone has gone crazy. No rest for the vets, though - and I mean the animal kind, not the fighting kind - so SistervonYounger has been sliding her non-4-wheel-drive to work anyway. Suckaaa!
As of today, the new semester has officially started. I am looking forward to my new students in my two semester electives, and refreshing things with my year-long English classes. New - or revamped rules. New seating charts. New hall pass policy. New configuration of students (This is not really a good thing, as I keep getting all the upper-level dropouts in my low-level classes, yet no one will take MY failing upper-level students! ha. No, really. And a whole truckload of "reformed" students fresh off the Alternative Education track. Woo for public education!). A new start.
Drew has restarted the renovations on our back bedroom... AKA the future nursery. This is one of the few rooms we have left to finish in the house, and was pursued with vigor for a few months.... then suddenly became a project that was unceremoniously dumped the second we found out I had miscarried. Healing is apparent here.
Speaking of which, I was just ruminating a bit about how far I've come emotionally in the past month or two - sure, I've had the choice mini-breakdown here and there, usually at any major holiday or birthday, etc. - but overall, I can safely say I am healed. Not over it. Not by a long shot. The scar is still there. I think of it daily. [I would have been 23 weeks yesterday, as a matter of fact.] It is dark, and ugly, and jagged. Every once in a while, the scar sends phantom pains to my heart. But passed are the days where I would sob at the gas station...or in my classroom... or in the shower... or in the car on the way to work...
...you get the idea.
Yes. I am feeling hopeful and ready to begin anew.
[PS- The links to flickr pics - etc. - are obviously not to my own albums, or even to the area in which I live. Just appealing to those visual learners.]
Sunday, January 4, 2009
All Good Things...
...are surely coming to an end.
My wonderful, long-winded, lazy, nonproductive, hilarious, fulfilling, emotional, devastating, long-anticipated Christmas Break (my tiny school district does not care about such things as being Politically Correct - it's Christmas and Easter breaks all the way, baby!) is over.
Finito.
[Etcetera.]
I did NOT do as much grading as I should have, and I only have myself to blame. Who the crap sets aside piles of grading to complete over a less-than-two-week break?! And the MOTHER of all breaks at that?! (....aside from the TRUE MotherofAllBreaks: Summer vaca. But that does not require grading, nor is it something I will gloat about to the masses of non-teachers.... though I see that 2.5-month hiatus as totally justified.... but that is a rantyrave I will save for another day.)
I did, however, get the following done over the last twelve days:
* Spent some much-needed QT with my family... not as much with Drew's, but as 90% of them live in the same town as us, I am not heartbroken over this fact. In fact.... oh, nevermind. I am sure I will get to that some other day. [Dun dun dunnnnnnn!]
* Bought clothing en masse on an I'mBoredLet'sGetOutofThisTinyTown&SpendSomeMoney binge. The buyer's remorse has not yet set in. I'm hoping that means I am allowing myself to splurge a bit since we didn't spend a lot on each other this Christmas.... More likely, I think I really just don't give a crap. ha!
* Brought home - from TheSistervonYounger's House - an adorable yet feisty homeless-looking terrier mix aptly named Dave by my new brudder-in-law. Any little progress the cats have made in the last week in terms of not doing a throw up jr. as a result of their unmitigated terror has been regularly squelched by his attempts to bum rush them the second he sees them walking across the room. Poor Mr. Pancakes and Lion-O.
* Saved ~$150 in cash toward my beloved Sony Reader... because I'm doing this the pre-job, old-fashioned way reminiscent of one's allowance: not involving my husband in this (other than his eye-rolling at me stuffing bills into my sock drawer and stealing his loose change as savings methods); not using the bank accounts or credit cards. It'll be nice. It's a very "I don't have thousands of dollars I pay out yearly to various utilities and college loan officers [etcetcetc]; I just have pocket change" way of imagining my life. Nice.
* Planned all of my classes for the entire month of January. If you have picked up anything of my sense of procrastination (a-la-blogging instead of finishing that grading I'm whining about not completing), you will understand what an unusual event this is.... I am typically planned a week in advance, max (other than the "Oh yeah, we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Occ 9 and starting the research project in Ac 12 next" vague sort of planning). Yes, even I can pleasantly surprise myself from time to time.
* Fooled myself into believing I was pregnant again - though there was little reason to believe it in way of timing... I'd say I didn't really care, but I would be, of course, a lying liar. Devastated is more the word. And for some reason I am translating it into a fear of never being able to get pregnant again. I am sure the irrational terror welling inside me every time I think of getting pregnant, staying pregnant, underlying causes for problems, etc., are with me to stay until I have our child laying in my arms. ( - And then a whole NEW set of irrational fears surface, right?!)
Bleh. I know we were supposed to have waited 2-3 cycles anyway, and it would have been foolish economically, as we just took out a short-term disability plan that won't even COUNT if I get pregnant before January 1st.... but.
....So.... in a couple weeks: let the games begin! Hopefully this will all work out okay (taken in whatever context you want).
[Ew. Sorry for that visual, All of You.]
..... Uh.... I'm sure I've done other things, most notably sleeping a hell of a lot. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do, so I am in no way complaining!
Hello, 2009 (whom I really do not completely greet until school is back in session)! Let's bring some (in the words of me, about 10 years ago) awesomely bangin' things this way in the next 361 days!
My wonderful, long-winded, lazy, nonproductive, hilarious, fulfilling, emotional, devastating, long-anticipated Christmas Break (my tiny school district does not care about such things as being Politically Correct - it's Christmas and Easter breaks all the way, baby!) is over.
Finito.
[Etcetera.]
I did NOT do as much grading as I should have, and I only have myself to blame. Who the crap sets aside piles of grading to complete over a less-than-two-week break?! And the MOTHER of all breaks at that?! (....aside from the TRUE MotherofAllBreaks: Summer vaca. But that does not require grading, nor is it something I will gloat about to the masses of non-teachers.... though I see that 2.5-month hiatus as totally justified.... but that is a rantyrave I will save for another day.)
I did, however, get the following done over the last twelve days:
* Spent some much-needed QT with my family... not as much with Drew's, but as 90% of them live in the same town as us, I am not heartbroken over this fact. In fact.... oh, nevermind. I am sure I will get to that some other day. [Dun dun dunnnnnnn!]
* Bought clothing en masse on an I'mBoredLet'sGetOutofThisTinyTown&SpendSomeMoney binge. The buyer's remorse has not yet set in. I'm hoping that means I am allowing myself to splurge a bit since we didn't spend a lot on each other this Christmas.... More likely, I think I really just don't give a crap. ha!
* Brought home - from TheSistervonYounger's House - an adorable yet feisty homeless-looking terrier mix aptly named Dave by my new brudder-in-law. Any little progress the cats have made in the last week in terms of not doing a throw up jr. as a result of their unmitigated terror has been regularly squelched by his attempts to bum rush them the second he sees them walking across the room. Poor Mr. Pancakes and Lion-O.
* Saved ~$150 in cash toward my beloved Sony Reader... because I'm doing this the pre-job, old-fashioned way reminiscent of one's allowance: not involving my husband in this (other than his eye-rolling at me stuffing bills into my sock drawer and stealing his loose change as savings methods); not using the bank accounts or credit cards. It'll be nice. It's a very "I don't have thousands of dollars I pay out yearly to various utilities and college loan officers [etcetcetc]; I just have pocket change" way of imagining my life. Nice.
* Planned all of my classes for the entire month of January. If you have picked up anything of my sense of procrastination (a-la-blogging instead of finishing that grading I'm whining about not completing), you will understand what an unusual event this is.... I am typically planned a week in advance, max (other than the "Oh yeah, we are reading To Kill a Mockingbird in Occ 9 and starting the research project in Ac 12 next" vague sort of planning). Yes, even I can pleasantly surprise myself from time to time.
* Fooled myself into believing I was pregnant again - though there was little reason to believe it in way of timing... I'd say I didn't really care, but I would be, of course, a lying liar. Devastated is more the word. And for some reason I am translating it into a fear of never being able to get pregnant again. I am sure the irrational terror welling inside me every time I think of getting pregnant, staying pregnant, underlying causes for problems, etc., are with me to stay until I have our child laying in my arms. ( - And then a whole NEW set of irrational fears surface, right?!)
Bleh. I know we were supposed to have waited 2-3 cycles anyway, and it would have been foolish economically, as we just took out a short-term disability plan that won't even COUNT if I get pregnant before January 1st.... but.
....So.... in a couple weeks: let the games begin! Hopefully this will all work out okay (taken in whatever context you want).
[Ew. Sorry for that visual, All of You.]
..... Uh.... I'm sure I've done other things, most notably sleeping a hell of a lot. Which just happens to be one of my favorite things to do, so I am in no way complaining!
Hello, 2009 (whom I really do not completely greet until school is back in session)! Let's bring some (in the words of me, about 10 years ago) awesomely bangin' things this way in the next 361 days!
Friday, January 2, 2009
Beautiful Things.
A sampling of the amazing talent one can view any day of the week on Flickr.com. This particular set was acquired when typing in "beautiful things."
I couldn't agree more.
Playing with Filters. August 2008. HomeAwayFromHome [Nags Head NC].
I couldn't agree more.
[All photos are hyperlinked to their original URL - I claim no responsibility for taking any of the above pictures - I am simply a fan and thought they deserved a shoutout!]
A bit of shameless addition of my own is in the form of the Dawson's Creek opening below. It's really not an ode. Oh lord I'm not that sad. Or perhaps the fact that I referenced it at all proves I am, in fact, that sadly pathetic. Okay maybe I am.
Playing with Filters. August 2008. HomeAwayFromHome [Nags Head NC].
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)